And What Happened After
by WiseQueen
Summary: When her best friend and fellow lady-in-waiting left, Alambil was lonely at first. Over the years a friendship with a Prince developed, and she got a new best friend. But is it a good idea to marry one's best friend?


A/N: This Christmas present for animus_wyrmis uses the part of her prompt where she says, "fic of my fic always makes me smile". My story starts towards the end of her story _A Year in Their Courts_.

Disclaimer: Alambil and Helen belong to animus_wyrmis, Hermione belongs to Mrs Rowlings, the title of the story (and one phrase inside the story) belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, and most of the other characters – and Narnia – (and one phrase and one entire sentence) belong to C.S. Lewis. One OC is my own, but since he only comes in towards the end, I'll mention him in an end-A/N-note.

Thanks for the prompt – and thanks a lot to my beta, Winged Flight!

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**And What Happened After**

Alambil was standing next to Hermione. Lucy had just left them to go to Aslan – she had said that she was sure that he was close by. Alambil was shivering with excitement. She had never been so close to the Great Lion before. She didn't expect him to have any message for her, but she very much hoped that she might have a chance to see him.

Alambil knew that Hermione would like to see Aslan as well. They were hoping that he would come to the wedding – the High King Peter had made Hermione a Duchess of Lantern Waste, and there was no doubt that he meant to marry her. Today, for the Midsummer Festival, he had given her some of Queen Helen's ancient jewels – but not the ring, not yet, and Hermione had said that he had told her that he would wait until the evening. Alambil thought that it was too romantic for words.

Would she be the first lady-in-waiting for the new queen? She almost was, already. She was staying with the Duchess in the east wing of Cair Paravel, close to the High King's quarters. There would be more responsibilities for her when Hermione had official duties, but already Alambil was doing things like helping her to choose her clothing and making sure that she had everything she needed for occasions like today.

Someone came out from the trees. Queen Lucy, back already? No, it was the High King, speaking to Hermione.

And everything crashed to pieces around them.

Aslan had spoken to the High King. He was not to marry Hermione – Aslan had a different destiny for her back in her own world, where she had come from a year ago. She was called to walk and talk with Aslan – he was there for everyone to see, and they all knelt to him, but Alambil would rather have been a mile away – and Hermione only had time for a hurried farewell with King Peter before she disappeared. Alambil knew that she couldn't expect to see her again in this world.

They had been dancing, but nobody went back to the dance. Queen Susan came over to her brother and embraced him, none of them saying anything. After a while she turned to Alambil, who tried to wipe her eyes and look as if she were coping. The queen shook her head and put her arm around her.

"Don't be afraid to weep," she said softly, "not all tears are an evil. And as Hermione told my brother, maybe we will meet her again somewhere."

Alambil could only sniffle and nod, and then they all turned to the trees because someone came out from them again. And this time it really was Queen Lucy. She stopped, looking at them all, finally meeting the gaze of her eldest brother.

"She has left," she said, "I brought her the magical items that we locked away from her, she's sure to need them in her own world. She is in Aslan's paws now – and within his will."

The High King closed his eyes for a moment, and the knuckles of his fists were very white.

"It is his will," he said, barely audibly. "What must be accepted, shall be accepted."

"I found these after she had left," Lucy said, holding forth Queen Helen's jewels. "Should they – should they go back to the royal treasury?"

"Yes, please," Peter said, indicating with his hand that he wasn't going to touch them. "And when you take them back – there's this to go with them as well."

He put his hand in his pocket and came up with a small box. Without opening it, he handed it over to Lucy. She took it and put both the box and the jewels back into the pocket where she had been carrying them. Then she flung her arms around her brother's neck.

"We will see her again," she said quietly. "Some day, we will."

"Lucy is right, you know," King Edmund said. "She knows these things."

_She does,_ Alambil thought. _She knows Aslan better than anyone else – if he has told her so, then it will happen. But oh, how much I'm going to miss Hermione until then!_

oOoOoOoOoOo

Queen Susan had suggested that Alambil should return to her former position as one of her ladies-in-waiting, and Alambil had come back, grateful that the High King had agreed. Her cousin Helen was still there as well. It had been because of Helen that Alambil had wanted to work at the Narnian court all those years ago – Helen had told the younger girl about the lovely country where she worked, and Alambil had pestered her father until he allowed her to join her cousin. She had been too young to be a lady-in-waiting right away, but she had worked as a hand-maiden for the first years, before she got her final position.

She had been in Narnia for seven years now. The best year had been the one before this – the year when she had that friend from a different world – Hermia, if she could still remember the name rightly. It was strange how she could only remember her in broad terms now – the details were fading. She never dared to ask Queen Susan whether the same had happened to King Peter, who had meant to marry her. The topic was too delicate to be opened.

Today there was plenty to do for the ladies-in-waiting. Over the last year, one particular suitor had come several times, and King Lune had hardly been to Cair Paravel at all. This suitor, Prince Rabadash of Calormen, was much closer to Susan's age, and he had done well in the tournaments when he had been visiting.

And now it was Queen Susan's turn to return the visit. King Edmund would be accompanying her, together with a group of courtiers and advisors. And – possibly to show that there were no hard feelings – King Lune had sent his son, Prince Corin, heir to the throne of Archenland, to go with them. He said that it would be educational for the boy, and it would be easier for Corin to go to Calormen for the first time in a less formal setting than if he had been accompanying his father on a visit of state. Those would come later, when the Prince had grown up some more.

Alambil liked Prince Corin. On occasions, he could seem quite grown-up already – but she had to admit that at other times he could be rather childish. She was the one of the ladies-in-waiting going on this journey who was closest to him in age, so she wouldn't be required to have any responsibility for him. Two fauns came along as his personal attendants.

The last items of luggage were loaded onto the ship, the royal travellers came on board, and the Splendour Hyaline set off for Calormen.

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Alambil ended up spending a lot of time with Prince Corin. Whenever something was deemed to be educational for the Prince, Queen Susan thought it would be educational for her youngest lady-in-waiting as well. And most of the time it was interesting as well as being educational. They were shown around in the Tisroc's palaces ("Why do they have an heir to the throne at all," Corin whispered to Alambil, "if they really believe that he might live forever?"), visited the Tisroc's kennels (where Alambil advised Corin that he probably shouldn't take too much interest in any one dog, in case someone thought they were then obliged to offer it as a gift, without really meaning it), and were told about all the different flowers of the Tisroc's gardens (neither Corin nor Alambil even tried to remember all the names, but Alambil thought that the abundance of colors was lovely).

It was almost like having a younger brother. She already had an older brother, but he had been away most of the time, either in the army or on business, as he was learning the trade of his father and would one day take over the family business. In the evenings, after she had done whatever she might be required to do for Queen Susan, she often talked with Prince Corin about what they had seen that day. Again and again they talked about the slaves they had seen. Corin vowed that like his father, he would never allow slavery in Archenland when he was king.

"Do you look forward to being king?" Alambil ventured to ask one day.

"Not particularly," Corin answered, "there's so much to do, and so many difficult decisions to make, and so much responsibility – I don't understand how Father can bear it all. Besides, you know, when I become king – that means that Father has died."

He closed his eyes for a moment and blinked a few times. Alambil made sure not to mention his mother.

The next day Prince Corin went missing. Queen Susan feared that he had been kidnapped, and said that it had been uncommonly stupid of him to run away. But nobody approached them to ask for ransom, and the day after, he turned up again – after having been confused with his double.

"Shasta thinks that he is a Narnian," Prince Corin told Alambil after supper, at a small break in the preparations to secretly sail off. "I hope he is – I should make enquiries about him when we get home, and invite him to visit me at Anvard, if he doesn't come on his own accord. Such fun we will have, getting mistaken for each other all the time! I feel that he is a friend already, even though we only had a few minutes together."

"Do you think he will be able to find his family?" Alambil asked. "He must have been stolen away – from a rich family, perhaps, and then put with ordinary people. If he said he was nobody in particular."

"I hope so," Corin answered, "although I haven't heard anyone talking about any Narnian noble missing a son. Father might know more about it, though."

"What did that other boy say about Queen Susan?" Alambil said. "It must have been rather bad for you to attack him."

Corin's face darkened.

"You don't want to know," he muttered, "you really don't want to know. And I'd rather not repeat it anyway."

Alambil left it at that – even without any details she could guess what kind of joke the boy must have made.

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When the Splendour Hyaline reached Narnia a couple of days later, there was a messenger there calling Narnia to aid because Calormen had attacked Archenland. Prince Corin was really excited. He told Alambil that he had never fought in battle before, and fighting to defend his own castle really must be the best way to go to one's first battle. Alambil wasn't too thrilled at the idea – she could well understand Queen Susan, who immediately took over as monarch-in-residence while Queen Lucy joined King Edmund to go to war. Of course, when your country is attacked, somebody has to defend it – but Alambil (and Queen Susan, too) would much rather leave the actual defence to someone else.

When the first messengers came back to tell about the victory and about how King Lune had found his lost son, amongst all the letters they brought there was even one for Alambil – from Prince Corin.

"You will have heard by now," he wrote, "how Shasta turned out to be my brother! We didn't only look like twins, we really were! And he is the eldest, and he is going to be king, and I won't need to be a king, I shall always be a prince!

"At first Cor was worried because he had taken the kingship from me, but I told him to shut up – I don't want it. And I believe he's going to be a far better king than what I could have been – he's more responsible, I think, at least he looks like that when he's facing education and all such things that he will have to put up with now.

"I didn't even know that I had lost a brother. Nobody has talked about it – I guess they thought it would have been too painful for father to hear. But now that Cor is back, I have heard the whole story. I'll tell you all about it next time we come to Narnia – if you don't come here first."

Alambil didn't come. She loved Narnia more than ever, especially after those months she had recently had in Archenland – and there might still be the threat of her father nagging at her to find a husband. So she preferred to stay in Narnia, and Queen Susan respected her wishes and chose other ladies-in-waiting whenever she went to Anvard. But there were letters going back and forth – Alambil told Prince Corin about the goings-on at the Narnian court, and Corin told her more about what it was like suddenly to have got a brother. And almost a sister as well, he wrote, since Lady Aravis also was living at the castle of Anvard. Sometimes there would be visits from Archenland to Narnia, and Alambil met both Prince Cor and Lady Aravis, and found that her "educational" visit to Calormen hadn't given her all that much useful information. Aravis could tell a lot more.

They would all write to each other and send greetings for Christmas, but it was only to Prince Corin that Alambil continued to write regular letters. The years went by, and she told him about the Narnian kings and queens – there had been less suitors to Queen Susan lately, perhaps because they had misunderstood the fight against Rabadash and been scared away. On the other hand, there had been more suitors to Queen Lucy, as if to make up for the loss. But none of them seemed to favor any one suitor more than anyone else these days. She didn't know much about the kings in this respect, only that most of the time there weren't even rumors going. She tried to tell about her friend Hermia, and how the High King had made her a countess and wanted to marry her all those years ago, but she found that there was so little she could remember now.

Corin told her about his training – even though he was not going to be a king, he would need to be a warrior, and he learnt how to use a sword properly ("even though I already knew enough to kill an enemy in my first battle – but I realize now that I was a bit lucky then"), and he perfected his boxing skills.

They always spent a lot of time talking when Corin came to Narnia, and their friendship grew until Alambil felt that he was her best friend. And he always – on the night before he would be going home – asked her whether she would come home soon. And she always answered that she had settled down in Narnia now, and that it was becoming her new home.

One day in Spring, during a tournament when Corin had just unhorsed his opponent, Alambil was cheering for him when it suddenly struck her that of course he was not a boy any more. Prince Corin was a young man, just like his brother. Why hadn't she noticed before? And when they talked that evening, she was a little shy at first. But Corin was just as friendly as ever, if possible even more courteous than the last time they had met, and soon they were talking freely again. But they didn't make as many jokes this time as they often had done.

He asked as always, and she refused as always. But this time he asked again.

"Are you completely sure? You still have family in Archenland, it's not as if you would be a complete stranger. I would really like to have you a bit closer."

She thought about it – but refused again, and this time he accepted her answer.

He came back for the Midsummer Festival. He sought her out for dancing even more than he used to, and she enjoyed dancing with him, even though it made her a little shy sometimes. But it was nice having his hands supporting her back and whirling her around, even nicer than the hands of the other men she was dancing with.

Perhaps it would be nice to be a bit closer to him? Perhaps – oh, what was this? He was her best friend, he had been so for a few years – was that changing now? There was something else as well ...

On the last night before the Archenlanders would leave, there was a ball in their honor. Prince Corin hardly danced with anyone other than Alambil. When he had to let her dance with others, he chose to just stand by the wall, his arms crossed, following her with his eyes, ready to grab her for the next dance.

Alambil had noticed. She chided him for it, gently.

"There are others who might like to dance with you as well, you know," she said. "You should spread your favors."

"But I don't like so much to dance with them," he protested. "And as for my favors – no, I don't want to spread them at all."

For some reason this made Alambil blush and not know what to say, so she just let him whirl her around again, and enjoyed the dance. And his hands.

After the last dance Corin suggested that they go down to the gardens for a bit of fresh air, and Alambil agreed – she was feeling quite warm. They walked for a while in silence, just sniffing at the fragrance of the evening flowers, and finally sat down on a bench underneath a lamp-post.

He turned to her.

"Won't you come home soon?" he asked.

She had expected the question, and she had expected to turn it away as always, but suddenly she wasn't so sure, and she couldn't find the right words.

He pounced on her hesitation.

"If you're not sure, then you should come," he declared.

"I would so much like to have you closer. Don't you think that would be a good idea?"

"It's not that," she whispered, "it's just ... I like being here. Narnia is such a lovely place. It's almost a new home to me now."

"Almost," he repeated. "But not quite, then. Archenland could be your home again, if you let it. And if you let me. I don't want to spread my favors, Alambil, I want to give them all to you. I want to build a new home with you as my wife. Will you marry me?"

Alambil was sure that she was gaping. Marriage? To her best friend? But ...

"See, you're not refusing me straight off," Corin said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Won't you at least think about it?"

"Yes, I'll think about it," Alambil repeated, unable to find other words.

That evening, she couldn't sleep. What was going on? Corin was still her friend, wasn't he? Her best friend? Why hadn't she realized that he wanted something more than that?

Because she had been shutting her eyes very firmly?

She wouldn't mind being closer to him, she enjoyed his company every time they met, although she had preferred that he come to Narnia rather than she go away. But would it be a good idea to be his wife? Would it change their friendship?

It needn't, she realized. Yes, it would make it different, if they met every day, and there were all the tedious details that were part of everyday life to enter into their friendship – but those details needn't ruin that friendship. Perhaps the details would be easier to bear for them, because they were already friends and willing to help each other.

Then if they met every night …

She suddenly remembered his hands touching her back when they were dancing, and she got all warm inside by the memory. Was this what had made her shy, too? Had she been falling in love with him – and not seeing it?

Because she had been shutting her eyes very firmly?

She toyed with the thought of being Corin's wife. Not his friend. Not just his friend. And she realized that being married to one's best friend might actually be a good thing.

In the morning, she tried to get a moment alone with him, but in the hustle and bustle of breaking up and getting ready to leave, it was impossible. He seemed to be holding back, not making an effort to be alone with her – knowing him, she thought he probably didn't want to put undue pressure on her.

Finally, the party from Archenland were taking their leave. Alambil curtsied to King Lune and embraced Cor and Aravis, and when Corin was about to embrace her, she spoke hurriedly, knowing that people around her might hear what she was saying.

"May Aslan give you a safe journey," she said, "and, just so you know – what you mentioned to me last night – I think it's a good idea."

Corin gaped. Then he embraced her and swirled her around.

"You will?" he asked. "You really will?"

"I will," she answered, smiling. "And now, set me down, before you hit anybody."

oOoOoOoOoOo

They were married the next summer, three months after the wedding of Cor and Aravis. While Ram was born a year later, Corin and Alambil didn't have their first child – a son – until a year after that. King Peter was his godfather, and he chose the name Frank for the boy, hinting back at his distant ancestry.

Two years later, Ram got a brother, and the next year Frank got a sister. Alambil named her Hermia, after her friend of long ago. Queen Susan was her godmother – although Susan admitted that she didn't remember the Baroness very well any more.

"Nor does my royal brother, I think," she said, "although I haven't actually asked him for a long time. But I don't think he will ever marry anyone else."

Two months before Frank's fifth birthday, King Edmund came to visit. He brought with him documents from the four sovereigns of Narnia with an offer to make Frank their heir. Corin admitted that it would be an honor, and Alambil, who still missed Narnia sometimes, thought that it would be a good way to strengthen the old connection. More documents were set up, some of them stating the exact order of succession should any of the current kings and queens ever have offspring, and others stating what rights Frank's descendants should and shouldn't have to the throne of Archenland – and on his birthday the final agreement was signed by the four Narnian sovereigns, by King Lune, and by Princes Cor and Corin. Frank was appointed a Prince of Narnia, but as he was a Prince of Archenland already, it didn't make much difference to him.

For his tenth birthday, Prince Frank was given a small estate close to Beruna. The High King Peter thought that it would be good for him to be able to live in Narnia for longer periods of time, and that it would be easier to give him a Narnian education that way. Alambil was thrilled at the chance to live in Narnia again, and over the years she and the children came to spend more of their time there than they did at Anvard. Corin, on the other hand, had to travel back and forth quite a lot, as he still had duties in Archenland – like when the farmers close to Stormness complained to Cor (who had become king by then) about the Lapsed Bear who wasn't behaving like a Talking Bear any more. King Cor asked Prince Corin to deal with it, as he was hoping that it might still listen to reason – and Corin found that although it wouldn't listen to reason, he was able to beat some sense into it, after a boxing fight of thirty-three rounds without a time-keeper. At the end the Bear couldn't see out of its eyes and became a reformed character. Corin was called Corin Thunder-Fist after that.

Prince Ram of Archenland was sworn in as heir to the throne on his fifteenth birthday. A year later the turn came to Prince Frank, and in the Great Hall of Cair Paravel, in front of the four sovereigns, he pledged allegiance to Aslan and to the High King, and swore to protect Narnia and her inhabitants with his life. It was a solemn occasion, and the boy was both thrilled and a little scared to be made a knight by King Peter himself.

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Prince Frank was just over seventeen, and he now lived in Narnia, but went to visit his relatives at Anvard quite often. Alambil didn't always go with him, only when Hermia also came and they could all go together. Frank had been to some battles already – the Giants of the North had started to stir up trouble again a few months ago, and King Peter had beaten them soundly (although it took some weeks). Prince Frank had been added to his council, and Corin had been pleased to hear that the young prince showed great skills of strategy. Frank could even beat King Edmund at chess sometimes.

This week they were visiting at Cair Paravel. There had been a grand feast last night, and today they would mainly rest – but Prince Frank still went to the training grounds in the morning as usual. The kings had sparred with him yesterday, and said that his swordmanship was better than that of most young men his age – being called a "young man" had meant almost more to him than the praise of his skills.

This morning there were two fauns there to spar with him, and they had been at it for nearly an hour when Frank tripped over a root and sprained his ankle. After they had ascertained that nothing was broken, the fauns helped him into the castle, where he settled down with a book in his room. Alambil was worried, and insisted on sitting with him to make sure that he didn't get any worse, but he said that there was nothing to worry about, all he needed to do was to rest for a couple of days and after that he would be right as rain again. But she was welcome to play the mother-hen if she liked.

Frank was able to join the others for lunch, and after the meal King Edmund joined him for a game of chess. King Peter came as well, just to watch, and to gloat at the end, as he said.

Alambil, still feeling that she ought to be around, took her embroidery over to sit by a window where she would have better light.

_A few years ago I didn't need so much light,_ she thought. _My eyes are getting older – __**I**__ am getting older. I have an almost grown-up son – just look at him, on an equal footing with the kings – and a daughter who is almost a young lady, older than I was when I first came to Narnia. How the years have flown by!_

Frank started the game fairly well, but he soon lost his first advantage. Edmund had just beaten him when a Faun, Queen Lucy's friend Mr. Tumnus, came in all excited, the queens in tow, telling that he had come down the river expressly to tell them that the White Stag had been seen up in his parts of the country.

"The White Stag?" King Peter said. "Who would give us wishes if we caught him? Now there's an adventure for us! Prince Frank – what about you?"

"Not now, I'm afraid," Frank said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice, "I might hurt my ankle if I don't give it some rest. But don't let that stop you from going – such an adventure isn't something you should miss out on unless you must. Just tell me all about it when you come back!"

Alambil was pleased to see her son showing such responsibility. It was a good sign for his future.

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A/N: Prince Frank is the only OC who belongs to me.

Perhaps I have made Alambil younger than her author meant her to be, just because it suited my purposes and it was a little vague anyway. (For some reason, none of us mention that she is named after a star.) Otherwise I've tried to use _A Year in Their Courts_ as canon – or fanon, probably – for my story.

I'm completely disregarding Lewis' timeline – I give the Pevensies far more time in Narnia than it does, but then I think the timeline isn't consistent with LWW anyway. _A Year in Their Courts_ may do this a bit differently, but in this case I've chosen my own version.

I haven't tried to use the courtly speech – but then I'm mostly telling about less formal moments anyway.

_A Year in Their Courts_ is a cross-over (Narnia/Harry Potter) story where Hermione Granger stays in Narnia for a year. I think I've included enough of the events at the end of it for this story to stand on its own, but do read the cross-over story for its own merits – it's very good!

When Hermione is back at Hogwarts after her year in Narnia, she wonders what happened to those she had to leave behind. "What about Alambil – did she live out her days in Narnia, or return to Archenland?"

This story tries to answer that question.


End file.
